Latitude Business Intelligence The Extended Enterprise Delivered
Case Study
Fixed Operations Analysis
General Motors (GM)
Each year at NADA GM field managers perform a fixed operations analysis (FOA) for dealers to evaluate dealer’s service and parts operations and identify areas of improvement. Previously, FOAs were limited to an interview at the North American Dealer Association’s (NADA) annual exposition and conference. Latitude developed a web-based predictive analytic tool, so more dealers could participate in an FOA and make operational changes in a more timely manner.
Solution
Collected monthly and quarterly financial and operational data to enhance fixed operations analyses. Allowed GM and dealer managers to explore how different what-if scenarios and available incentives can improve dealer performance. Provided historical data on select operational performance metrics. Relied on a database of outcomes (based on standard best practices and practical knowledge) for predictive analytical functionality.
Results and Benefits
FOA could be performed more frequently with updated information, allowing dealers to make operational changes in a timelier manner. Much easier for GM field managers to navigate through metrics and activities to test different what-if scenarios with dealer staff. GM field managers could demonstrate trends to help dealers see where progress had been made. Dealers that participate in an FOA could expect a four to six percent increase in profitability.
Application in Action: A dealer’s return visits for a vehicle repair are high, so the GM field manager recommended that the dealer’s service technicians attend a training class. The field manager selected the training activity in the FOA application, which then projected the performance improvement the dealer could anticipate.
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LATITUDE BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE CASE STUDY
Dealership Fixed Operations Analysis Background
For the previous fifteen years, GM Service and Parts Operations (SPO) had conducted its Fixed Operations Analysis for dealers at the National Automotive Dealer Association Convention (NADA). The analysis provided a detailed summary of major Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of a dealership’s fixed operations business, which included its Mechanical/Service and Body and Parts departments. The FOA had grown to an eighteen page report that included several data categories on each page. For each main category there were also several subcategories. Each page contained corrective “action items” that were unique to the specific KPI’s reflected on a the page. All action items are designed to grow the dealers customer pay and fixed operations business. Due to the popularity and value of the report displayed at NADA the analysis had been extended and conducted at the Minority Dealer Development (MDD) and Women’s Retail Initiative (WRI) Conferences. GM SPO wanted to web-enable the current reporting application and take advantage of Internet-based technologies to dramatically improve the entire FOA process. The FOA reporting tool was a stand-alone application that was updated once each year for the NADA and other conferences. The original reporting tool was static and could not be changed after an analysis was conducted and reviewed with the dealer at a conference. Latitude designed, developed, and implemented a web-enabled reporting application that was interactive and could be frequently updated. As a result of improved usability and access to more timely data and what-if scenarios, dealership managers could continually update their performance plans and make operational adjustments when business climate and other uncontrollable circumstances changed during the year. Latitude had the experience required to deploy a scalable complex database driven applications like the FOA application. This experience had been gained through both large and small implementations at corporations such as DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, and the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
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